Success in the community college – for students, staff and faculty – requires “college fluency,” or knowledge of the non-curricular support services and resources offered on campus.
Earlier this year, Ithaka S+R and Borough of Manhattan Community College partnered to get a better sense of staff and faculty’s perceptions of college fluency, as well as how departments collaborate and communicate to share information about supports and resources. They surveyed community college administrators, librarians and faculty and staff from academic and student affairs departments about priorities and challenges to supporting student success beyond academics.
Lower priority, higher understanding of services
Actions related to college fluency – such as creating a sense of belonging or reducing bureaucratic barriers or obstacles to accessing services – aren’t as high of priorities as increasing enrollment, graduation and retention rates, according to survey results. While 93% of the 190 respondents rated increasing student enrollment as a high priority and essential, only 50% said the same of helping students develop a sense of community, and 47% rated reducing bureaucratic barriers as a high priority.
However, most respondents (83%) do feel confident that they know what non-curricular services their college offers, and 86% feel confident in their ability to refer students to these services.
Also encouraging is that 75% of respondents do not see supporting students’ non-curricular needs as beyond the scope of their responsibilities. That highlights “a strong willingness to support students holistically,” the report’s authors say.
Gaps in knowledge, confidence
There are challenges, though, in supporting students’ college fluency. More than a third of respondents (35%) noted insufficient staffing as a challenge. Complex bureaucratic processes and policies and insufficient cross-departmental collaboration also were challenges, as well as insufficient time.
In addition, respondents themselves acknowledged their own gaps in knowledge.
Most respondents (76%) indicated they were comfortable helping students with general resource referrals. Their top priorities for non-curricular supports were technology and information access, sense of belonging and engagement, and mental health and emotional well-being. Providing information about housing and transportation ranked the lowest, “highlighting potential gaps in addressing these essential areas,” according to the report.
Fifty-seven percent said they were not well equipped to help students secure affordable housing, and 58% said they were not equipped to assist with visa and immigration issues. Just over half (51%) said they weren’t confident in helping international or immigrant students with cultural adjustment.
When disaggregating survey results by race and ethnicity of the respondent, important differences appear. For example, 67% of people of color indicated they are very or extremely well equipped at fostering a sense of belonging for diverse student populations, but only 46% of White respondents say the same. Also, 40% of people of color said they’re very or extremely well equipped to provide cultural adjustment support for international or immigrant students, as opposed to only 20% of White respondents.
The takeaway from this, the report’s authors say, is that “fostering an inclusive campus environment that better supports the diverse needs of all students may require increasing the representation of people of color in faculty, staff, and leadership positions.” More training also may be needed to increase staff competencies.
Additionally, while respondents rated their own understanding of non-curricular services high, they’re not so sure about others at their colleges. Fewer than half (46%) of survey respondents believe other faculty are moderately well equipped and 38% believe other staff are moderately well equipped to refer students to resources and services.
Only 40% think their students are moderately well equipped to navigate their college’s bureaucracy to access the supports they need. And only 46% somewhat or strongly agreed that their college has an established process for students to advocate for their non-curricular needs.
How is this seeming lack of knowledge and understanding affecting their institutions? A majority of respondents (68%) believe that it’s a retention challenge.
Interdepartmental collaboration
Despite these numbers, most respondents (75%) said their department is collaborating effectively with other departments to better help students navigate college services. Three of the top ways they collaborate are through campus events and activities, training and presentations, and by supporting other departments.
Some respondents cited orientation at the college as an occasion for cross-departmental collaboration.
As another example, at one college the library partnered with inclusion and success services and financial aid office to set up listening tables in the library so students could talk with staff about services. And the library now provides a quiet space to offer students a respite from stress. This came from a suggestion from student services.
Of note, 88% of respondents view the library’s role in helping students develop skills to find non-curricular information as important or very important.
One of the biggest challenges to cross-departmental collaboration is communication barriers, respondents said.
Lack of communication can result in duplication of services and inefficiencies. As one respondent said, “Our college needs some sort of asynchronous communication system, like Slack. Oftentimes, two departments will be working on the same sort of initiative while unaware of the other one, complicating an already difficult process.”
Communication challenges
Respondents also noted some challenges communicating with students.
According to the survey, the preferred ways tocommunicate services and resources with students is through college websites, online portals and email. Classroom visits, social media and informal conversations also are used.
But nearly half of respondents (48%) said they had difficulty reaching students through preferred communication platforms. Thirty-four percent also noted they had difficulty tracking and measuring the effectiveness of communication, and the same number noted low levels of student engagement at their institution.
The survey also asked respondents to rate different strategies that could enhance student navigation of non-curricular services. The top strategy was to systematically update institutional websites with current information and resources.
The report’s authors note that “outdated or inaccurate information on websites can exacerbate the challenges students face” and “updating websites is paramount.”
Other top strategies were conducting regular assessments to identify student navigation challenges, establishing cross-departmental collaborations and coordination to improve information sharing, and implementing a centralized student support hub.
